O Noble Christ (Reading)

O noble Christ, Great Physician to me; the deaf now hear, the blind now see. O gentle Jesus, Good Shepherd you lead; the lost now found, the sheep now feed. O refreshing Rain, Water of Life you give; the thirsty now drink, the dead now live. O delicious Food, Bread of Heaven, divine yeast; the hungry now eat, the soul now feasts. O majestic Christ, Prince of Peace you came; that war might end, harmony might reign.

O wise Jesus, Great Teacher you yearn; minds to be open, hearts to discern. O brilliant Christ, Morning Star so bright; night now ended, darkness now light. O divine Christ, Mysterious God concealed; the veil now torn, God’s face revealed. O human Jesus, Son of man we see; in your human life who we are called to be. O wondrous Christ, Risen Lord you reign; all knees now bow, all praise your name. O lowly Christ Child, Mary’s little son; all humankind, new day begun.

"They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another"
(John 13:35).
"I hear from Chloe’s people that there are divisions among you"
(1 Corinthians 1:11).

Note: This dramatic reading is more effective if it involves several persons from the congregation (as readers and pantomime); sound effects of boards, sawing, hammering, etc., can add to the intensity as well. Have pairs of persons in various areas of the congregation stand and face one another. As the text is read, it is acted out in pantomime (silent gestures). Have them make hammering, sawing motions—using the sound effects—until they are eventually standing back to back. Then, when you get to that portion of the text, have them say the words listed below, for example, "I’m sorry...Please forgive me," etc. Then they act out the remainder of the text as they move from alienation to reconciliation. Showing slides depicting a series of walls, then changing to slides of bridges, would be effective as well. It is important to rehearse this reading with everyone involved. The reading and pantomime would be an excellent way to involve the youth and/or children of the congregation.

I look on helplessly as the boards go up,
(the sounds of saws and boards being put into place echo in the room), the hammers pound nail after nail, (the sounds of hammering and nailing are added) creating walls—tall, wide, thick walls... (if slides are used, a series of quick slides of various walls is flashed)

And I see them growing alienated, estranged, separate from one another, not being able or willing to see or hear one another, and wondering why...

And the anger grows, the misunderstanding festers like a wound, and they stay behind their walls, aching deep inside but not sure why or what to do about it...

Such walls, hated things, monstrous creations that we make with our own hands of malice, hearts callous, minds prejudiced, eyes judging, ears sealed...

Who can deliver us from these walls? What could possibly break through them? Trapped. Imprisoned. Lonely. Aching. Afraid. Broken. Alone... Are these walls eternal?
And then, suddenly, there is a new sound.
Not hammering. Not of another board, or brick.
No, a steady tapping against the walls...
And it will not stop. It will not cease, this tapping, this chipping away at the walls. For this tapping is someone’s confession, of taking responsibility for being a wall builder...
And suddenly there is another tapping that begins to shake the walls ...it is an apology...little words, tiny whispers cast against the massive walls ... "I’m sorry... It’s my fault... I was wrong..."
And then the walls tremble, another force, more powerful than the other two, slams against them—"I forgive you..." Forgiveness joins the fray, tumbling the walls to pieces, smashing through them as mere paper...
And wonder of wonders, these three, this holy trinity—confession, apology, forgiveness—pick up shattered walls of bricks, cement, steel, and wood, and transform them into bridges...
And tentatively at first they take a step on those bridges, a step toward one another, and suddenly they see one another again, feel their own hearts yearning, needing the other...
And the pace quickens, eyes embrace, smiles radiate, arms encircle, hearts mingle, hands held, memories of the walls fade away in the joy of standing on the bridges of reconciliation . . .

(a period of silence for reflection and personal confession)

PRAYER

Dear God, sometimes we build such thick walls around us, shutting out others, even maybe You. And we have reinforced them for so long that we wonder if they can ever be brought down. Lord, give us the tools of confession, apology, and forgiveness. Teach us how to use them so that the walls begin to quake and crumble, and help us in their ruins to construct bridges. Amen.

(Invitation to the Table or sermon resource)
This Is Not My House
Rev. Bass M. Mitchell, Hot Springs, VA

Matthew 9:10-13
"And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples"
(Matthew 9:10; parallels in Mark 2:15-18 and Luke 5:29-33).

This is not my house.
This is God’s house.
I cannot tell God who is welcome and who is not.

This is not my table.
I do not sit at the head as host.
It is the table of Christ. He is Host.
I cannot tell the Host who can sit here and who cannot.

This is not my food on this sacred table.
I did not prepare it. It is not my blood, my body.
It is the very life of the Christ laid out here.
I cannot tell him, this one who constantly ate with sinners, who is worthy to partake of it and who is not.

The doors of God’s house are open to all who need shelter, who crave the fellowship and friendship of God, and even to those who hate God or cannot bring themselves to trust that God exists or could care for them. Anyone, everyone is welcome as an honored guest in God’s house.

This table of Christ is long and it has many chairs. There is always room for one more, for those craving the fellowship of the sacred table, a place to belong, to be somebody to Somebody. Anyone, everyone has a place at the table of Christ.

This food, simple yet divine, is abundant, ample for all, especially those who are hungry and thirsty for what mere bread and drink cannot supply. Anyone, everyone has a plate and a portion served by the very hand of the Christ. No one is sent away hungry or thirsty here.

Lord, who am I that you swing open your door and embrace me?
Who am I that you escort me to your table and pull out a chair for me?
Who am I that you would provide such wondrous and costly food?
How can I but humbly bow my head at such grace?

Lord, help me be like you—embracing all your guests, all who, like me, are unworthy of your house, unfit for your table and food, yet are welcomed, seated, and fed anyway. Amen.

(Homily)
The Waters of Baptism

Rev. Bass M. Mitchell, Hot Springs, VA

This brief homily could be followed by a Congregational Reaffirmation of Baptismal Covenant; see the baptismal prayer of thanksgiving over the water, UMH pp. 51-52, and UMBOW pp. 112-13.

Water...

My first memory of water is a warning as I stood with my father on the banks of the Neuse River in North Carolina. We had just purchased a house only 200 feet away from it. "Water can hurt you," he said and he went on to give me some rules to follow so that it would not hurt me. And I remember one of my classmates who did not take water seriously. He drowned one summer. And how I remember the water coming up under our house during a hurricane and actually taking some houses right back into the river.

Water...dangerous...destructive...deadly...

These waters, the waters of baptism, are also dangerous, destructive, and deadly, my friends (the pastor, acolyte, or other leader may pour water into the basin)...

I remember standing with my brother on the banks of a river while we watched the minister dunking people beneath the water. My brother observed, "You know, someone could get hurt doin’ that."

Indeed, that is the point. Baptism is a kind of death. It destroys the old Adam, drowning him, burying him in a watery grave. I read somewhere that some baptismal pools in the church were actually formed in the shape of a grave.

Paul says, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-5).

Be warned before you enter these waters. There is danger here. Here you will lose your life, but you will also find it.

Water...

Place an infant in water and he or she will maybe be a little afraid at first, but soon will be splashing around in it, having fun. We love water just for the sheer fun it gives—building pools to swim in it, boats to sail on it, skis to skip across its surface, little plastic guns to squirt one another with it. Water is fun. It is a source of joy for us.

The waters of baptism are waters of joy too—joy that we are God’s children, forgiven, and given abundant and eternal life. If any people should be known for their joy and enjoyment of life, it should be Christians who begin their lives in the joyous waters of baptism.

Water...

I was joining a Boy Scouts troop and we had a cabin on the river where we had our meetings. I still remember those strong young lads picking me up and carrying me to the river, as they did every new scout, and shouting as they swung me back and forth, "One, two, three..." and sending me soaring through the air and into the river. I didn’t mind it. In fact, I was laughing with everyone else, for what I knew it meant—I really was now a part of the troop. I was one of them.

When you enter the waters of baptism you, too, are initiated into a troop, a family—God’s family. Baptism means you have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. You are accepted. You belong to Christ, to his church, to each generation of Christians throughout history. You are one of us! And you always will be.

Water...

The next memory about water that stands out for me is when my daughter, Meredith, was about three. She had been playing in the grassy yard, but she had managed to find the only patch of dirt and was covered with it. I could not see one clean spot on her. I took her inside and ran a bath for her. When I lifted her out of the bath, there was enough dirt in the water to grow a garden. She wrapped up in a large towel that swallowed her and said brightly, "Daddy, I feel so clean!"

The waters of baptism are also cleansing waters. Paul tells us, "...but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). Baptism is the Father’s bath for soiled children. Baptism means that the waters of God’s grace and forgiveness poured out in Jesus Christ have washed away our sins, and we feel so clean!

Water...

I remember cutting my hand when I was about eight. I ran to my mother and you know the first thing she did? She placed my hand under the water and it stung a little but it started to feel better. And when doctors or nurses first treat a wound today, what do they do? Yes. They clean it with water, for water begins the healing process.

I am reminded daily of how water and healing are associated. I live just a mile away from Healing Springs. And just a few miles away many people visit Warm Springs for the soothing waters there that people have used for many years. I understand doctors have even prescribed dipping in those pools as treatment for various ailments.

The waters of baptism are also healing waters, waters to treat wounded souls; waters that help wash away pain, grief, and guilt of the past so that healing begins. Baptism means that we experience salvation, and in Greek salvation literally means "to be healed, made whole."

Water...

I remember helping my father-in-law lay irrigation pipes throughout his fields, for the rain had not come and the crops were suffering. You can’t grow a garden without water. Water gives growth. Water nurtures gardens and all God’s creatures; how could we live or grow without it?

The waters of baptism are also nurturing waters. Martin Luther said that baptism is something we do in church one day that it takes the rest of our lives to finish. Baptism means we are born again, that we are babes in Christ. It is a beginning more than an ending. The waters of baptism remind us that we need to keep growing, to grow up, to become daily more and more like Christ. So our baptism calls us to also immerse ourselves in worship, prayer, study, and service—waters that will nurture us and help us grow up in Christ.

Water...

Once when visiting Niagara Falls, I sat in amazement watching the waters flowing through the power plant there that tapped some of the power water produces. The water turns great turbines that generate electricity.

The waters of baptism are also powerful and empowering waters. When Jesus was baptized, immediately the Holy Spirit descended upon him, empowering him for the work he was just beginning. Likewise, baptism means the Holy Spirit flows in us like a mighty river, stirring turbines and generating energy so that we can live this new life we have been given in Christ and can continue his work in the world.

Water... (The pastor/leader dips a hand into the water and lifts it for all to see and hear.)

We will use it today.
We will use it many times in many ways the rest of our lives.
And each time we do, let it remind us that...
we have died to the old life and been raised to a whole new life;
we are a joyous people;
we have been cleansed, healed, nurtured, and empowered...all in
the waters of baptism.

PRAYERS

Most gracious and loving God, you are the means and the end of our deliverance. Awaken our slumbering spirits with the brilliant light of your glory. Quicken our hearts as we arise to serve and worship you. Be for us the armor of forgiveness that heals as well as protects. We ask this in the name of Christ Jesus your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
William Englebreth, Charlotte, NC

Almighty God our Father, who alone has established the day and hour of our Lord’s coming: grant us the strength and courage to heed your warnings, that in this busy season we may remain ready and watchful, eagerly awaiting the Advent of your Son; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
J. Mark Christian, Anchorage, AK


Almighty and everlasting God, you are the sculptor of the universe and all that is within it. Mold our hearts to your will so that we may truly be your servants. Focus our eyes on your mighty deeds and tune our ears to your commandments, so that others may see and know your love through our actions, and hear and understand your kindness through our words; through your Son, Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Kelli McKie, Ballwin, MS

Sovereign God, you alone know the day when your Son will come to us again in glory. In these between times, strengthen us to know that our Lord is near, even at the gates. Give us the grace to serve you watchfully, that we may not be found asleep in our discipleship; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Andy Sneed, Chattanooga, TN

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your great love you sent your Son into the world to rescue us from our preoccupation with ourselves, and to call us back to lives centered in you. Grant us the peace and patience that come with knowing that all of history is in your hands. Help us not to be anxious, but to remember that as he once came to earth in that far-off place and time, so he will come again in final glory. So assured, enable us to live gentle lives of thankful rejoicing, so that every knee may bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We ask these things in his name, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, eternal and loving. Amen.
Loy Harris, Houston, TX

Almighty God, you alone know the day and the hour when Jesus will appear. Therefore, grant us grace to be awake on that day, and enable us by your Spirit to be faithful until that hour, that we may be your devoted servants, watchfully awaiting the return of our gentle master; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Shaun Henson, Durham, NC

Transforming God, who reveals to us a new way of seeing, a new way of knowing, a new way of being: reveal to us this day the impartiality of your love. Transfigure us with your unlimited grace. Change us, and make us clean. Open our eyes to your work and unstop our ears to the hearing of your word, that we may continually be crafted into your image; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Kristen Ruth Williams, Durham, NC

PRAYERS OF CONFESSION & PARDON

1. Eternal God, creator and keeper of all time, you are Alpha and Omega. Our fears abound on the edge of this new day, for we have failed to be your people. Sin covers us like darkest night, and we are weighed down. We lay bare our lives before you, trembling in the face of a dawn that is yet unknown. Judge us mercifully, Righteous One, for you are our hope and our salvation. Fit us for your new heaven and new earth, and use us for the work of your kingdom. Claim us in the end time and fulfill your promise to the faithful; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
   [Leader] Hear words of good news. The burden of sin is lifted. Leave guilt and trembling behind. Christ has come,
   Christ has died, Christ is risen. And the world is forever different. In Christ, you are loved, you are forgiven.
   In Christ, you are loved, you are forgiven.
   Rejoice and be glad in this new day. Amen.

   Elizabeth Stroud Campbell, Raleigh, NC

   
   
   
2. Come and claim your rightful place, Lord Jesus. Come in power and glory, as with sounding trumpets you claim your throne. We kneel, ashamed and unfulfilled, mired in self-interest, sick unto death pursuing personal gain. Our hearts cry out for your kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus, for we long to be set free from our selfish desires and the forces of evil. Come and bring a new day to a worn and weary people. Apportion justice kindly and bestow forgiveness lavishly. Take away the sin that has distorted your reflection in our lives. Ready us for your coming, Lord Jesus.
   
   
   

   [Leader] A new day begins. The rising sun shines on a forgiven people who know great grace afforded in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rejoice in this good gift. Renew your strength, and live boldly into this new day. Offer Christ’s light in the world; give witness to God’s love through deeds that offer grace to others. In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

   In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
   Glory to God! Amen.

   Elizabeth Stroud Campbell, Raleigh, NC